Stone Artefact Assemblages Research Articles

Early modern human lithic technology from Jerimalai, East Timor

Jerimalai is a rock shelter in East Timor with cultural remains dated to 42,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest known sites of modern human activity in island Southeast Asia. It has special global significance for its record of early pelagic fishing and ancient shell fish hooks. It is also of regional significance for its early occupation and comparatively large assemblage of Pleistocene stone artefacts. Three major findings arise from our study of the stone artefacts. First, there is little change in lithic technology over the 42,000 year sequence, with the most noticeable change being the addition of new artefact types and raw materials in the mid-Holocene. Second, the assemblage is dominated by small chert cores and implements rather than pebble tools and choppers, a pattern we argue pattern, we argue, that is common in island SE Asian sites as opposed to mainland SE Asian sites. Third, the Jerimalai assemblage bears a striking resemblance to the assemblage from Liang Bua, argued by the Liang Bua excavation team to be associated with Homo floresiensis. We argue that the near proximity of these two islands along the Indonesian island chain (c.100 km apart), the long antiquity of modern human occupation in the region (as documented at Jerimalai), and the strong resemblance of distinctive flake stone technologies seen at both sites, raises the intriguing possibility that both the Liang Bua and Jerimalai assemblages were created by modern humans.

The influence of raw material size on stone artefact assemblage formation: An example from Bone Cave, south-western Tasmania

This paper specifically examines the influence of raw material size on stone artefact assemblage formation in conjunction with two behavioural assemblage formation processes: reduction intensity and artefact transport. The aim is to establish whether raw material size can influence the way in which reduction intensity and artefact transport form a stone artefact assemblage and, should a significant influence be established, whether this has any bearing on human behavioural reconstructions. This is first investigated in an experimental setting followed by an archaeological setting using a quartzite and chert assemblage from Bone Cave in south-western Tasmania. Reduction intensity and artefact transport are respectively measured using the scar density index, flake to core ratio, non-cortical to cortical flake ratio and cortex ratio while tool blank sizes are also reconstructed. The combined experimental and archaeological analyses find that raw material size variation is capable of exerting a substantial influence on stone artefact assemblage formation. This particularly with reference to the nature of change in stone artefact assemblages: both reduction intensity and artefact transport will alter assemblage composition at faster rates when nodule sizes are smaller. This can have significant implications for intra- and inter-site reconstructions of past human behaviour.

Occupation duration and mobility in New Zealand prehistory: Insights from geochemical and technological analyses of an early Māori stone artefact assemblage

Defining settlement–subsistence configurations, their long-term dynamics, and related mobility strategies is an on-going archaeological challenge. We undertake technological analyses of stone artefacts from a ∼late 14th century Māori occupation at Tauroa Point, Northland, New Zealand. From the results we infer artefact production strategies, occupation duration, and population movements to and from this locale. Our analysis identified more than 13 stone types, with varied functional properties, and from sources up to 300km away. The most abundant were obsidian, chert, silicified tuff, and fine-grained volcanics, including materials from the important source of Mayor Island and Tahanga. Use of exotic raw materials, especially when local equivalents were available, indicates population mobility and/or interaction with social groups residing elsewhere. The technological analysis considered tool production, use, and discard patterns as indicated by core and flake size, form, and cortex patterns; flake scar properties; and core-flake ratios. The results inform on differences in the nature and intensity of raw material use, patterns of artefact movement to and from the site, and occupation duration. Notably, preferential and intensive use of non-local obsidian suggests a social component to its procurement and use. Local obsidian, chert and silicified tuff were used less intensively, and possibly for different functions. Overall, an extended but not necessarily permanent occupation involving a variety of activities is indicated. The Tauroa Point site was clearly one component of a larger regional settlement system that involved significant mobility, with connections to other localities within the region, and quite possibly beyond.

Approaches to Middle Stone Age landscape archaeology in tropical Africa

The Southern Montane Forest-Grassland mosaic ecosystem in the humid subtropics southern Rift Valley of Africa comprised the environmental context for a large area in which modern human evolution and dispersal occurred. Variable climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene have ranged between humid and hyperarid, changing the character of the ecosystem and transforming it at different points in time into a barrier, a refuge, and a corridor between southern and eastern African populations. Alluvial fans presently blanket the areas adjacent to major river systems, which were key areas of prehistoric human habitation. These sets of variables have created conditions that are both challenging and advantageous to conduct archaeological research. Lateritic soil development has resulted in poor organic preservation and facilitated insect bioturbation, which has demanded an integrated micro-macro scale approach to building a reliable geochronology. An integrated field and analytical methodology has also been employed to identify the nature and degree of post-depositional movement in alluvial deposits, which preserve a wide range of spatial integrity levels in buried stone artifact assemblages between 47 and 30 ka in Karonga, northern Malawi. This paper describes the methodological advances taken toward understanding open-air Middle Stone Age archaeology in sub-tropical Africa, and explores the inferential potential for understanding Pleistocene human ecology in the important southern Rift Valley region.

An experimental approach to distinguishing different stone artefact transport patterns from debitage assemblages

This paper experimentally demonstrates the ability of a set of indices to distinguish between different stone artefact transport patterns represented in debitage assemblages. Stone artefacts were transported extensively in the past and this is an important component of technological organisation. However, most stone artefacts occur as part of debitage assemblages. From these assemblages, where mostly non-transported artefacts remain, it can be challenging to identify what artefacts, if any, were transported in anticipation of future use. A series of indices; the cortex ratio, volume ratio, flake to core ratio, non-cortical to cortical flake ratio and flake/core diminution tests are presented to meet this challenge. These are tested on an experimental assemblage where three different transport scenarios are simulated. Results suggest that the indices are sensitive to artefact transport and are capable of empirically distinguishing between the three transport scenarios, even when raw material form varies. The results also indicate that artefact transport is capable of exerting a significant influence on stone artefact assemblage formation.

The Still Bay and Howiesons Poort at Sibudu and Blombos: Understanding Middle Stone Age Technologies.

The classification of archaeological assemblages in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa in terms of diversity and temporal continuity has significant implications with respect to recent cultural evolutionary models which propose either gradual accumulation or discontinuous, episodic processes for the emergence and diffusion of cultural traits. We present the results of a systematic technological and typological analysis of the Still Bay assemblages from Sibudu and Blombos. A similar approach is used in the analysis of the Howiesons Poort (HP) assemblages from Sibudu seen in comparison with broadly contemporaneous assemblages from Rose Cottage and Klasies River Cave 1A. Using our own and published data from other sites we report on the diversity between stone artifact assemblages and discuss to what extent they can be grouped into homogeneous lithic sets. The gradual evolution of debitage techniques within the Howiesons Poort sequence with a progressive abandonment of the HP technological style argues against the saltational model for its disappearance while the technological differences between the Sibudu and Blombos Still Bay artifacts considerably weaken an interpretation of similarities between the assemblages and their grouping into the same cultural unit. Limited sampling of a fragmented record may explain why simple models of cultural evolution do not seem to apply to a complex reality.

The archaeology, chronology and stratigraphy of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II): A site in northern Australia with early occupation

Published ages of >50 ka for occupation at Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II) in Australia's north have kept the site prominent in discussions about the colonisation of Sahul. The site also contains one of the largest stone artefact assemblages in Sahul for this early period. However, the stone artefacts and other important archaeological components of the site have never been described in detail, leading to persistent doubts about its stratigraphic integrity. We report on our analysis of the stone artefacts and faunal and other materials recovered during the 1989 excavations, as well as the stratigraphy and depositional history recorded by the original excavators. We demonstrate that the technology and raw materials of the early assemblage are distinctive from those in the overlying layers. Silcrete and quartzite artefacts are common in the early assemblage, which also includes edge-ground axe fragments and ground haematite. The lower flaked stone assemblage is distinctive, comprising a mix of long convergent flakes, some radial flakes with faceted platforms, and many small thin silcrete flakes that we interpret as thinning flakes. Residue and use-wear analysis indicate occasional grinding of haematite and woodworking, as well as frequent abrading of platform edges on thinning flakes. We conclude that previous claims of extensive displacement of artefacts and post-depositional disturbance may have been overstated. The stone artefacts and stratigraphic details support previous claims for human occupation 50–60 ka and show that human occupation during this time differed from later periods. We discuss the implications of these new data for understanding the first human colonisation of Sahul.

Estimating Core Number in Assemblages: Core Movement and Mobility During the Holocene of the Fayum, Egypt

The utility of the cortex ratio first developed by Dibble et al. (American Antiquity, 70(3), 545–560, 2005) and extended by Douglass et al. (American Antiquity, 73(3), 513–526, 2008) is examined in contexts where cores rather than flakes may be transported. The cortex ratio is used to demonstrate the movement of artifacts by quantifying missing surface area, typically where it is the flakes that were removed and the cores that were left behind. In such situations, the removal of flakes with small volumes will result in the removal of relatively large cortical surface areas resulting in a low cortex ratio. However, when it is the cores that were removed, assemblages will lose greater proportions of artifact volume relative to the loss of artifact surface area. Here, we propose methods to investigate the effects of high-volume artifact removal from archeological assemblages as a proxy for human movement in addition to the cortex ratio. We apply the methods to stone artifact assemblages from the Fayum, Egypt, where changes in mid-Holocene mobility are closely linked to food production.

Middle and Later Stone Age shellfish exploitation strategies and coastal foraging at Hoedjiespunt and Lynch Point, Saldanha Bay, South Africa

Hoedjiespunt 1 has long been recognized as one of the earliest Middle Stone Age (MSA) shell-bearing sites on the southwestern Cape coast. Together with the closely adjacent and roughly contemporary site at Sea Harvest, and the extensively documented site of Ysterfontein, Hoedjiespunt provides a record of MSA people's adaptations to coastal environments and systematic exploitation of marine resources at a crucial time in human evolution. The site was re-opened for excavation in 2011, and the combined shellfish assemblage from the original 1994–1996 excavations and the more recent field season was analysed. This augmented assemblage displays a number of commonalities with those from other MSA sites along the Atlantic west coast. The abundance of granite limpets (Cymbula granatina) and black mussels (Choromytilus meridionalis), and large size of limpets recovered from Hoedjiespunt is consistent with the small-scale and selective exploitation of a limited range of accessible species during short, episodic visits to the coast by highly mobile hunter–gatherers. The nature of the stone artefact assemblages that are associated with the shellfish remains, characterized by low lithic densities, expedient use of predominantly local raw materials, little retouch on-site but import of non-local silcrete tools, supports this interpretation. As a regional comparison, the shellfish assemblages from three Later Stone Age (LSA) middens at Lynch Point in Saldanha Bay were also analysed. The diversity of the shellfish remains from Lynch Point, in combination with much smaller limpet sizes, are indicative of broader and more flexible coastal foraging strategies and more intensive shellfish collection during the LSA in this region.

Middle Pleistocene hominin occupation in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region, Central China: studies of formation processes and stone technology of Maling 2A site

Danjiangkou Reservoir Region (DRR) is one of the areas where Acheulean-like stone technology (Mode 2) was reported in central and south China. It is located at the end of the upper reaches of the Hanshui River (the largest tributary of the Yangtze River). Systematic field investigations documented more than ninety Paleolithic sites along the fluvial terraces of the Hanshui and Danjiang Rivers (the latter a tributary of the upper reach of the Hanshui River). Subsequent excavations at more than 30 sites led to the discovery of a large number of Paleolithic stone artifacts in the past decade, showing that early hominins lived in the region at least by the early part of the Middle Pleistocene. However, little is known from the archaeological record about the context of the sites and their formation processes, the technological characteristics of the stone artifact assemblages, and whether they truly belong to Mode 2 technology or just to core and flake technology, and the overall hominin behavioral patterns and adaptation during the Middle to Late Pleistocene.Maling locality 2A (ML2A) is buried in the front edge of the third alluvial terrace of the Danjiang River. Archaeological excavations, undertaken at the site in 2011, recovered 1026 stone artifacts from a red clay deposit. Preliminary OSL dating and geomorphological comparisons between the terraces in the Hanshui River system suggest that the site is dated to the late Middle Pleistocene. Patterns of artifact concentration suggest that the site was buried in secondary context where the stone artifacts were transported by water from a relatively higher location nearby. The artifacts, primarily made on quartzite and quartz cobbles, include cores, whole flakes, various fragments, retouched pieces, two bifaces and a hammerstone. All flaking is by direct hard hammer without core preparation. The majority of flakes in the early stages of core reduction indicate that the cores are not extensively reduced. Choppers are the predominant core category, together with discoids, polyhedrons, and core scrapers. It should be noted that two bifacially flaked cobbles can classed as mode 2 implements. Eleven retouched pieces are recognized, and they were casually modified by direct hammer percussion. Although only two bifaces were excavated from this site, many more are recorded in the larger study area. The ML2A artifact assemblage may be considered as a Chinese variant of an Acheulean-like (Mode 2) industry. It can be deduced that Homo erectus was likely the responsible for manufacturing the stone artifacts.

Petrographic and geochemical comparison between the Copper Age “Ljubljana type” axes and similar lithotypes from Eisenkappler Diabaszug complex (southern Austria)

The petrographic and geochemical features of “Ljubljana type” axes (including Lt1-3 groups), one of the largest assemblage of Copper Age stone artefacts in the Caput Adriae region made from magmatic and metamorphosed igneous rock types, have been compared to rocks specifically sampled from the Eisenkappler Diabaszug complex (southern Austria), recently considered as the most probable provenance area. Both the axes and the geological samples show similar mineralogical and petrographic features and are characterized by a common OIB-like signature, metamorphic and spilitization features. The collected data confirm that the Lt3 group originates from one outcrop located in the eastern part of the complex while the precise provenance of the Lt1-2 axes is still to be identified in the same geological area.

Generativity, hierarchical action and recursion in the technology of the Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition: A perspective from Patpara, the Son Valley, India

The Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition is one of the most important technological changes that occurs over the course of human evolution. Here we examine stone artefact assemblages from Patpara and two other excavated sites in the Middle Son Valley, India, which show a mosaic of attributes associated with Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic industries. The bifaces from these sites are very refined and generally small, but also highly variable in size. A strong relationship between flake scar density and biface size indicates extensive differential resharpening. There are relatively low proportions of bifaces at these sites, with more emphasis on small flake tools struck from recurrent Levallois cores. The eventual demise of large bifaces may be attributed to the curation of small prepared cores from which sharper, or more task-specific flakes were struck. Levallois technology appears to have arisen out of adapting aspects of handaxe knapping, including shaping of surfaces, the utilization of two inter-dependent surfaces, and the striking of invasive thinning flakes. The generativity, hierarchical organization of action, and recursion evident in recurrent Levallois technology may be attributed to improvements in working memory.

Just passing through: Archaeological investigations of a late Holocene open site in the Mitchell Grass Downs, inland northwest Queensland

<p>Comparatively little is known about the archaeology of the Mitchell Grass Downs region of inland Queensland. This paper reports the results of investigations of an open site complex therein, comprising numerous hearths, a human burial, middens, stone arrangements and a stone artefact assemblage. Analysis reveals the stone artefact assemblage is a palimpsest, representing multiple events in the late Holocene compressed into a single non-stratified archaeological surface assemblage. The evidence suggests use of the area was by highly mobile, transient populations passing through on an occasional seasonal basis when environmental conditions were amenable to travel; suggestions for a semi-sedentary population are not supported. Clear evidence for the extensive removal, weathering, reuse and recycling of artefacts has implications for our ability to reconstruct past human behaviours and landscape use in this region.</p>

Re-excavation of Dabangay, a mid-Holocene settlement site on Mabuyag in western Torres Strait

The discovery and initial excavation of Dabangay in 2006 established a 7200 year chronology for human settlement on Mabuyag (Mabuiag) in western Torres Strait. This was one of only two Torres Strait sites to pre-date 4000 years ago, providing a rare opportunity to study human activities spanning the mid-to-late Holocene. Remarkable organic preservation and a large mid-Holocene stone artefact assemblage provided insights into long-term continuity and change in lithic technologies and economic strategies; however, results remained preliminary owing to uncertainties about site disturbance. This paper presents results from a second field season of excavations at Dabangay. We suggest chronological association between emerging lithic technologies and altered subsistence practices. Large marine vertebrate bone (present in small quantities from initial settlement), increased after 4200 years ago coincident with increased preference for production of quartz bipolar flakes. A further development after 1800–1600 years ago involved a substantial increase in large and small marine vertebrates and a further increase in the ratio of quartz to igneous lithics.

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:A Millennium of Culture Contact: By Alistair Paterson‘Fire and hearth’ Forty years on: essays in honour of Sylvia J. Hallam: Edited by C. Bird and R.E. WebbChanging Perspectives in Australian Archaeology: Papers in Honour of Val Attenbrow Edited by Jim Specht and Robin TorrenceThe Statues that walked: Unraveling the mystery of Easter Island: By Terry Hunt and Carl LipoExploring Prehistory on the Sepik Coast of Papua New Guinea: Edited by John Edward Terrell and Esther M. Schechter

Middle to Late Pleistocene hominin occupation in the Three Gorges region, South China

The contributions of the Chinese Paleolithic record to broader ranging paleoanthropological debates – have long been difficult to decipher. The primary problem that hinders many contributions that include or focus on the Chinese record is that relatively few regions outside of the main flagship sites/basins (e.g., Zhoukoudian, Nihewan Basin, Bose Basin) have been intensively researched. Fortunately, systematic archaeological survey and excavations in the Three Gorges region, South China over the past two decades has led to the discovery of a number of important hominin fossils and Paleolithic stone artifact assemblages that have contributed to rethinking of ideas about hominin adaptations in Pleistocene China. This paper provides a detailed review of the results of recent paleoanthropological, particularly Paleolithic archaeological, research from this region.The Three Gorges region is located in the transitional zone between the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River (Changjiang River). Vertebrate paleontological studies indicate that the faunas from this region belong primarily to the Ailuropoda–Stegodon faunal complex, a group of taxa representative of a subtropical forest environment. Systematic field surveys identified sixteen Paleolithic sites in caves and along the fluvial terraces of the Yangtze River. Based on geomorphology, biostratigraphy, and geochronology studies, these sites were formed during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Follow up excavations at these sites led to the discovery of a large number of Paleolithic stone artifacts, Pleistocene mammal fossils, as well as some hominin fossils. Analysis of these materials has provided the opportunity to reconstruct hominin technological and mobility patterning in a restricted spatial point. The Paleolithic technology from the Three Gorges region is essentially an Oldowan-like industry (i.e., Mode 1 core and flake technologies) comprised of casual cores, whole flakes, fragments, and chunks as well as a low percentage of retouched pieces. The utilized stone raw material is primarily high sphericity cobbles and limestone, which were locally available along the ancient river bed and surrounding terraces. Most of the artifacts are fairly large in size. All flaking is by direct hard hammer in a single direction without core preparation. Unifacial choppers are the predominant core category, with fewer bifacial choppers, sporadic discoids, polyhedrons, and bifaces. The flake types demonstrate that the first stage of core reduction is represented by a low percentage of Type III and VI flakes. Some flakes are retouched unifacially by direct hard hammer percussion on the dorsal surface of the blanks. Archaic Homo sapiens and modern H. sapiens identified from some of the cave deposits are likely the hominins responsible for the production of the stone artifacts. Implications for Oldowan-like technological patterning in South China are discussed.

Landscape distribution of Oldowan stone artifact assemblages across the fault compartments of the eastern Olduvai Lake Basin during early lowermost Bed II times

The density and composition of Oldowan stone artifact assemblages deposited during the first ca. 20,000 years of lowermost Bed II times show a recurrent pattern of variation across recognized synsedimentary faults that compartmentalized landscapes of the eastern Olduvai Lake Basin. When active, the faults created minor topographic relief. The upthrown fault footwalls accumulated assemblages with relatively high densities of artifacts, including types retaining potential usefulness, particularly volcanic flaked pieces, manuports, pounded pieces, and split cobbles. Values for these assemblage characteristics decline toward the lower-lying hangingwall of the fault compartments, accompanied by an increase in the proportionate weight of artifact assemblages comprising quartzite, particularly flaking shatter and potentially useful detached pieces. Values reverse once again at faults, either on the downthrown, hangingwall side or on the upthrown side. The patterns are stronger for the volcanic components of the artifact assemblages than for the quartzite components, reflecting the additional influence of distance from the local source on quartzite assemblage characteristics reported previously. The landscape distributions of artifact assemblages are consistent with a landscape-fault model in which minor fault-induced topographic relief at times created a mosaic of vegetation environments repeated within each of the three fault compartments of the lake margin and distal alluvial fan. The fault-compartmentalized landscape model is currently supported only by sediment thickness and facies changes across synsedimentary faults, but it provides predictions for spatial variation in the cover abundance of trees, freshwater reservoirs and associated distributions of resources and hazards associated with stone artifact use and discard that can be tested if sample sizes of key paleoenvironmental indicators are increased.

Changing Perspectives in Australian Archaeology, part V. Karremarter—Mid to Late Holocene stone artefact production and use in the lower southeast of South Australia

Karremarter is a small limestone shelter in the Lower South-East of South Australia that was used from the mid-Holocene onward. This paper presents a characterization of the typological and technological attributes of the chipped stone artefacts recovered from this shelter. This provides the basis for assessing the relationship between access to and selection of raw materials, tool-making strategies and the spatial and temporal availability of subsistence resources. Frankel, DaviD, anD nicola Stern, 2011. Changing perspectives in Australian archaeology, part V. Karremarter— Mid to Late Holocene stone artefact production and use in the lower southeast of South Australia. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum, Online 23(5): 59–71. The mid-late Holocene assemblage of chipped stone artefacts from Karremarter in the lower southeast of South Australia provides a springboard for discussing two of the recurring themes of Val Attenbrow’s research: the meaning of variation and change in composition and characteristics of artefact assemblages, and the information that stone technology can contribute to an understanding of past land use patterns. Assemblage variation can be investigated at different scales, ranging from the short-term and local to the long-term and widespread, and may involve explanations that refer to season and scale of occupation, through to patterns of mobility or broad responses to changes to the environment (cf. Frankel, 1991a: 144–145; Bird & Frankel, 2001, 2005: Bailey, 2007). Over the past 20-plus years researchers have striven for a better understanding of the factors contributing to assemblage variation in different circumstances, stimulating considerable interest in the strategies used to make and maintain tools and in the way these relate to the strategies employed to acquire other critical resources and to maintain social networks (e.g., Torrence, 1983; Shott, 1986; Kelly, 1988; Bamforth, 1991; Kuhn, 1992). Kuhn (1994), for example, explored the relationship between the cost of transporting artefacts and their potential utility and found that if size did not constrain the effectiveness of a tool, the most economical strategy for a highly mobile forager would have been to carry many small tools with modest potential for reworking. However, if larger tools were required for effective performance of tasks, he suggests that it would have been more economical to carry tools with longer working edges and greater potential for re-working (Kuhn, 1994: 438). He also acknowledged a considerable body of evidence indicating that mobile foragers sometimes transported cores as part of their tool-kits, even though the mass of a core can never be converted in its entirety into tool blanks or tools. Hiscock (2006) has built on these (and other) foundations to argue that in southeastern Australia changes in the relative abundance of backed artefacts and scrapers in Holocene artefact assemblages reflect different strategies for balancing the costs of tool manufacture and maintenance with the

A Twenty-First Century Archaeology of Stone Artifacts

Archaeologists today, as in the past, continue to divide their stone artifact assemblages into categories and to give privilege to certain of these categories over others. Retouched tools and particular core forms, for instance, are thought to contain more information than the unretouched flakes and flake fragments. This reflects the assumption that information to be gained from stone artifacts is present within the artifact itself. This study evaluates a continued interest in the final form of stone artifacts by first considering ethnographic accounts of stone artifact manufacture and use in Australia and then by utilizing the patterns observed in these accounts to investigate assemblage patterning within an Australian archaeological case study. Reading the ethnographic accounts provides no indication that Aboriginal people valued more or less complex artifacts, in uniform ways, in every situation. In fact, the opposite is true. Stone artifacts were always valued in some sense but which ones, and in which ways, depended on the situations the people who needed the artifacts found themselves in. Aboriginal people were quite capable of making and using expedient and informal artifacts in complex ways. The significance of these observations is considered for stone artifact studies in general and in relation to a case study from western New South Wales, Australia.

Artefact Assemblage Characteristics and Distribution on the Point Blane Peninsula, Blue Mud Bay, Arnhem Land

Previous analysis of the archaeological material recorded on the Point Blane Peninsula in Blue Mud Bay has highlighted the dominance of shell deposits within this landscape. While only minimally represented within the study area, the stone artefact assemblage characteristics, the level of artefact reduction, raw material use and the distribution of artefacts across the peninsula all suggest that, while there may not have been a heavy reliance on stone technology in this coastal area, stone was largely procured locally and intensively reduced. This reinforces the interpretation of economic activity within this area being focused on coastal resources and locally oriented.